Home Media Center News Releases

Alexandria, Va—National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chairman Debbie Matz and National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Colleen M. Kelley today signed an agreement creating an NCUA/NTEU Partnership Council. This is the first such agreement concluded between a federal agency and NTEU in response to President Obama’s executive order on labor-management collaboration.

The council, headed by Chairman Matz and President Kelley, includes six NTEU members and six NCUA management officials who will collaborate to enhance the work environment. The partnership explicitly recognizes employees as NCUA’s primary resource, and encourages active participation to ensure the agency delivers the highest quality service to credit unions and the American public. The partnership will also encourage and enhance involvement of NCUA employees in the decision-making process regarding issues affecting the workplace.

“This agreement is a strong signal to all NCUA employees that Chairman Matz recognizes and appreciates the role NCUA employees play in the success of their agency,” President Kelley said. “Today we start a new chapter at NCUA—one that includes the expertise and experience of frontline employees.”

“I am extremely proud that NCUA is the first federal agency to agree to work in partnership with NTEU,” stated Chairman Matz. “This demonstrates NCUA’s strong commitment to our workforce. It is our hope that working in partnership with NTEU and its members will also enable NCUA to improve the manner in which we carry out our public mission of ensuring the safety and soundness of federally insured credit unions. I want to thank President Kelley in particular for her leadership in bringing this agreement about, and for her commitment to the very bright future that we share.”

The purpose and goals of the NCUA/NTEU Partnership Council include the following:

1. Conduct joint discussions of workplace challenges and joint problem solving to promote successful labor relations;

2. Improve the productivity and effectiveness of NCUA;

3. Foster a cooperative and constructive relationship between NCUA and NTEU;

4. Enhance and improve the working conditions for NCUA employees;

5. Encourage, endorse and sponsor partnership relationships throughout all levels of NCUA;

6. Explore alternative methods for managing conflict and resolving problems;

7. Promote open and shared communication;

8. Promote pre-decisional across the board involvement;

9. Establish a culture of top-to-bottom labor-management collaboration; and

10. Implement Executive Order 13522, President Obama’s December 2009 initiative aimed at fostering an enhanced relationship between the U.S. government and the federal workforce.

The first meeting of the Partnership Council will take place early this month at the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS) offices in Washington, DC. FMCS will facilitate the meeting. And minutes of each meeting will be distributed to all NCUA employees.